Brand New From Priceline.com: Name Your Own Price For A Rental Car
3 February 2000
Brand New From Priceline.com: Name Your Own Price For A Rental Car
NORWALK, Conn.--Feb. 3, 2000--rental industry
-- 27% of those who buy priceline.com airline tickets say they
want a rental car
First airline tickets, then hotel rooms, and now rental cars. Priceline.com today announced its newest way to save travelers money - name your own price(TM) for a rental car. Beginning today, priceline.com customers can visit the Company's Web site and drive away with a wide variety of vehicles from brand-name rental car companies.
With its new service for rental cars, priceline.com taps into the growing U.S. market for auto rentals, projected as a $17.2 billion-plus industry. In its own customer surveys, priceline.com has found that 27% of its airline ticket customers said they also would be interested in renting a car at their destination.
Priceline.com's auto rental service is fast, easy and convenient. Travelers tell priceline.com where and when they want to pick up and drop off the vehicle. They can choose from many types of vehicles, including economy, compact, mid-size, full-size, convertible, luxury, mini-van, full-size van and sport utility. (As with other priceline.com services, travelers agree to rent from any top-quality rental company affiliated with priceline.com). Then they name the per-day price they want to pay. Priceline.com automatically figures out any applicable taxes and fees and gives the traveler the all-inclusive total. Priceline.com then goes to work to try to find a vehicle for the traveler at that price and responds with a yes/no answer in an hour or less.
"We're pleased to be able to offer this new name your own price(TM) car rental service in response to the requests we've received from our traveling customers," said Daniel H. Schulman, president and COO of priceline.com. "Now, priceline.com offers a full lineup of money-saving services for the leisure traveler - airline tickets, hotel rooms and, now, rental cars."
About Priceline.com
Priceline.com is the patented Internet pricing system that enables consumers to achieve significant savings for goods and services. Priceline.com takes consumer offers and then presents them to sellers who can fill as much of that guaranteed demand as they wish at price points determined by buyers.
Priceline.com's "virtual" business model allows for rapid scaling using the Internet. Because the Company electronically collects consumer demand, it can fill this demand directly with sellers or by using proprietary databases. Priceline.com does not maintain or warehouse inventories in any of its product lines.
Priceline.com's business system currently sells multiple services to customers across three product categories: Priceline Travel Services that offer leisure airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars; Priceline Personal Finance Services that offer home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans, Priceline Automotive Services that lets consumers make purchase offers for new cars.
Priceline.com also licensed its business model to two privately owned companies -- Priceline WebHouse Club, which offers Name-Your-Own-Price(TM) retail goods, beginning with groceries in the New York metro and greater Philadelphia areas, and Priceline Perfect YardSale, a local-market selling service for used household items. In return for granting licenses to the WebHouse Club and Perfect YardSale, priceline.com receives royalties and has also received warrants allowing it to purchase an equity stake in the companies under certain contingent conditions. Prior to the exercise of those warrants, the results of WebHouse Club and Perfect YardSale operations will not be included in priceline.com's financial statements.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Expressions of future goals and similar expressions including, without limitation, "may," "will," "believes," "should," "could," "hope," "expects," "expected," "does not currently expect," "anticipates," "predicts," "potential," and "forecast," reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies and other factors described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligations to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date.
